


Adjacent Land and Sea

by RieltheWolf



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types
Genre: Alternate Universe - Fantasy, Alternate Universe - Merpeople, Friends to Lovers, I haven't hashed this plot out all the way I just needed to post it cuz it was bothering me, I'm excited for it tho, M/M, Multi, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Sexual Content, Slow Burn, mermaid!au, there's like Kingdoms n Shit
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-05-05
Updated: 2018-05-05
Packaged: 2019-05-02 19:20:55
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,850
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14551638
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RieltheWolf/pseuds/RieltheWolf
Summary: James met the young merrow named Sam by chance. For years he had been told about merrow and the devastation they caused but this one...this one made him question all of it. Circumstances caused him to lose Sam as quickly as he had found him and he wouldn't see him again until many years later and under much more dire events. Tensions arise the time of their meeting and it's up to them and their friends to stave off a war that could bring the end of both of their homes.





	Adjacent Land and Sea

**Author's Note:**

> NEW STORY. This is my first time writing a Marvel fic so bare with me. It may be a while before I get to this one and finish it but I'm determined to do so. (Btw if you're into SPN read the fic I'm more actively working on you can read that [here](https://archiveofourown.org/works/7332901/chapters/16656721)  
> :) Hope you enjoy!

The land adjacent to the sea was scarcely ever overcrowded with activity. A few wandering souls would venture there, sitting down in the soft sand whilst allowing the sea to lap gently at their feet; but they never stayed long, the eerie quiet and calm often boring them. Today was no different, except for one young soul who rather enjoyed exploring the soft sands. 

A boy, aged 9 years old, made his way through the sands, dark, ear length hair swaying gently in the wind, deep blue eyes squinting at the sunlight reflected by the sea. He was clothed in nothing but brown cloth shorts, a large stick in his hand that dragged in the sand as he made his way down to where the water and beach met. He stopped once his feet were submerged completely in water and crouched low enough so that his knees were still above the waves. He poked carefully at the sand with his stick, hoping to find some new shell pieces for his mother and little sisters. 

"Are you exploring too?" A voice suddenly said.

The boy's head shot up in alarm, eyes shifting quickly from side to side to locate where the voice had come from.

"I'm over here," The voice said again.

The boy looked to his right, puzzled when he saw nothing.

"Other way, silly," The voice said with a slight chuckle.

The boy looked to his left, letting out a quiet gasp when he saw another boy lounging casually on one of the rock beds, arms folded neatly under his chin, and his head tilted slightly in a curious manner. He looked about the same age as the blue eyed boy, he had dark, short textured hair, soft cheek bones, and dark brown eyes and sepia colored skin. 

The blue eyed boy took a cautious step in the direction of the other boy, pausing minutely before taking another cautious step.

"You can come closer," the other boy said with a kind smile, a gap shown between his front teeth, "I'm friendly."

Blue eyes narrowed cautiously at the strange boy on the rock beds before he shrugged internally and strode over to the rock bed and climb upward so he was a few feet away from the dark eyed boy.

"Are you exploring too?" The dark eyed boy asked again.

The boy nodded slowly, eyes not meeting the strange boy as he picked distractedly at the wet bark on his stick.

"Cool! What were you looking for?" The other boy asked with piqued interest.

The boy shuffled around in his pockets and pulled out a few sea-shell shards and held them carefully out to the dark eyed boy. 

"Seashell shards? Those are pretty neat. I find those all the time." The other boy said, picking up a shard and inspecting it before carefully placing it back in the blue eyed boy's hand.

The boy merely shrugged and stuffed the shards back in his pockets, eyes focused back on his stick.

"You're not much of a talker, huh?" The other boy inquired, trying to catch the boy's gaze.

The boy shrugged again, eyes still focused on the stick.

"I have an idea," the strange boy said, catching the blue eyed boy's attention. "Why don't we tell each other our names, then we can start a conversation. Is that okay?"

The boy looked up, the other boy's eyes focused on his as he gave him another gap toothed smile. The boy nodded slowly and chose to focus his attention back on the other boy.

"Cool!" The other boy exclaimed. "I'll go first. My name's Sam," He stuck out of hand, gap toothed smile in full force. The boy hesitated before taking Sam's hand, giving it a few gentle shakes. "What's your name?" Sam asked.

"James," The boy said quietly. "James Buchanan Barnes,"

Sam blinked in surprise. "I forgot people sometimes have more than one name."

James gave him a puzzled look, but ignored the statement and continued speaking. "My friend Steve calls me Bucky most of the time."

"Would you rather me call you James or Bucky?" Sam asked with his head tilted.

James thought about for a moment before giving another small shrug. "James I guess."

"James it is, then." Sam declared.

James chuckled for the first time since meeting Sam. 

"Now with that out of the way," Sam said shimmying further up the rock and propping his fists under his chin, "I've asked you a bunch of questions, now you get to ask me some questions."

James blinked at Sam owlishly, before giving him a serious nod and pondering what he should ask his newfound friend.

"Where're you from?" He asked finally.

"Well that's an easy question," Sam replied with a grin, "I'm from the sea."

James blinked. And blinked again, before he crossed his arms over his chest with a scowl on his face. "It's not nice to tell lies."

"I'm not lying!" Sam exclaimed insistently. "I really am from the sea!"

James narrowed his eyes at Sam, an eyebrow raised challengingly. "Humans can't live in the sea," he said cautiously.

Sam huffed and rolled his eyes. "Well that's obvious. Human's are terrible swimmers and can't breathe under water. I'm not human, so that doesn't apply to me."

That caused James' eyebrows to shoot up into his hairline. "What do you mean you're not human?" He asked incredulously. "You look human."

Sam eyed him with a puzzled look before it quickly turned into one of understanding. "You can't see my bottom half from here can you?"

Before James could answer, Sam stuck out his hands in a grabbing motion. "Can you pull me up?"

James wordlessly grabbed Sam's hands and tugged him further up the rock bed. Sam pulled himself the rest of the way up, and James immediately understand what Sam had meant. Instead of a pair of legs, a long, elegant fish tail replaced his bottom half. The scales, shiny from water that reflected the sunlight, were a gradient mix of crimson, gray, and black. 

"See?" Sam said softly, "Not human."

James made a move to touch Sam's scales before catching himself and rubbing awkwardly at his wrist as he continued to stare at Sam's tail.

"Y-you're...you're a mermaid..." James stammered.

Sam gave him a confused look. "A what?"

"A-a mermaid. Or, I-I guess it would be merman? Merboy? Or maybe--"

"Wait," Sam interrupted, "is that what human's call us? Mermaids?" He then laughed and shook his head. "That's not we're called at all."

"...It's not?" James asked after a beat of silence.

"No," Sam giggled.

"Well...then...what are you called?" James pressed further. 

"Merrow. We're called merrow." Sam answered. "I'm a deep sea merrow. We live really deep into the sea,"

James just nodded mindlessly. "If you live deep in the sea, why are you all the way up here?"

Sam smiled and turned his head back towards the sea. "Today I was finally allowed to explore on my own for the first time," he glanced briefly back at James, a glint of mischief in the dark eyes, before turning his attention back to the sea. "I'm not actually supposed to be out here," he murmured, "my Momma said to stay close to dark water ridge, but that's only a few miles away from home, there's nothing to see there at all. So...I came here. I'm miles and miles away from home." He eventually turned back to James, a gentle smile on his face. "I'm glad I did. I've never...I've never seen land before." 

"Really?" James asked, the mere thought of not knowing what land troubled and intrigued him at the same time.

"Nope," Sam said popping the "p", "I've lived deep in the sea since I was born. Every other older merrow says it's too dangerous to come up to the surface at such a young age. They say it's no place to explore just for fun."

James continued listening, a burning question sitting uncomfortably on his tongue until he steeled his own nerves and asked. "Do they...do they talk about human's a lot?" James asked cautiously.

Something darkened on Sam's face, lips turned downward in a grimace. He loosely wrapped his arms around his shoulders and nodded slowly. "Yeah. They're the first thing they teach us about." Sam sighed and raised his head towards the sky. "Never lower your guard around a human. Never trust one either cuz they'll slaughter you without a sliver of remorse for it." He recited with a hint of mockery in his tone. "I've never met a human until now." He glanced at James with a sad look in his eyes. "I know that what they tell us is true to some degree. I've seen it happen, I'm not naive." Sam didn't elaborate further on what he meant, merely shuddering before fully looking at James. "But not all of them can be like that, can they? You're not. Are you?" 

James quickly shook his head. "No! No, I think...I think you're pretty cool. They tell us just about the same thing about...about your kind...merrows I mean."

Sam shrugged, lips still downturned in a frown. "I figured as much."

"But I don't think you're like that at all." James finished quickly. "You're really nice. And funny. You...you at least don't look like you would drag me into the water and tear out my throat with your teeth." James joked feebly. 

Sam looked at him with wide eyes before letting out a rush of quiet laughter. "And you don't look like you'd cut off my tail and choke me with it."

They both laughed for a moment at each others morbid joke before settling into comfortable silence, nothing but the sounds of the sea brushing quietly against the sand. 

"Can I give you something?" Sam asked quietly after awhile.

James blinked in surprise and nodded eagerly.

Sam swiveled his tail carefully in front of him, small fingers sifting meticulously through his scales before he removes them, a single scale no bigger than his thumb in his palm. Sam placed the scale in James' awaiting hand. James brought the scale close up to his face, noticing the scale had a near perfect amount of the crimson, gray, and black that made up the colors of Sam's tail.

"I guess you can make that one of your finds on your exploration today." Sam said with a bright, gentle smile.

James continued to stare at the gift, before placing it in his pocket and looking back up at Sam with an equally gentle smile. "Thank you," he said softly, "it's very pretty." He suddenly frowned when he came to a realization. "I don't have anything to give you. All I got are some broken seashell pieces."

Sam pondered James' concern, a proposal, one he had thought about much earlier, popping into his head once again. "How about this," he began, "if you promise, and I mean really promise, that you'll be my friend and that we'll possibly see each other again, maybe tomorrow afternoon, I'll consider that your gift to me."

James' frown lifted slowly into an excited smile and he nodded in earnest. "Yeah. I think that's a good gift idea."

Sam clapped his hands together excitedly. "Awesome!" He calmed down after a bit, a solemn expression on his face except for the cheerful glint in his dark eyes, as he stuck out a hand. "So you, James Buchanan Barnes, promise to become my friend and meet me here tomorrow afternoon?"

James copied the same solemn expression and gave Sam's hand a firm shake. "I promise." He said in a mock authoritative voice. They both immediately broke out into bright smiles, letting out small occasional giggles.

The moment was abruptly ended when the sound of something fast approached them quickly. James saw it first, but before he could scream at Sam to duck, a large metal wire net appeared and constricted itself around Sam, causing the young merrow to let out a terrified scream. He began thrashing violently and fell over James' side of the rock bed onto the sand. James turned his attention quickly to where the net had come from and paled when he saw his father and a few of his co-workers running towards them.

"James!" He heard his father bellow from afar, "Get away from that thing!"

James ignored him, quickly climbing down the rock bed so he could help Sam. The merrow was still thrashing violently, as he struggled to free himself from the net. Sam spotted James, chest heaving in quick panicked breaths, a terrified and wild look on his face.

"I'm gonna get you out Sam, I promise just hold on!" James said urgently. James surveyed the net, recognizing it as a standard fishing net they used it shallow waters. Usually there was a latch that opened the net and allowed fish to spill out without having to destroy the entire net.

"Where is it, where is it?" James muttered to himself.

"James!" He heard his father yell again.

Finally, James found the latch, yanking and tugging at it hurriedly to get the net opened. It came loose with a final tug and the net opened, allowing Sam escape. He risked a glance at his father, he and his men quickly approaching, before he stopped down and swung Sam's arm over his shoulder, and hauled the young merrow quickly to the water, ignoring the weight of Sam's tail that threatened to drag him to the floor. Eventually they both got to the sea, and James released Sam, pushing him into the water and with an exhausted gasp collapsed forward into the water. Sam pushed himself into the shallow water, stopping to give James a worried gaze.

James caught Sam's gaze, still breathing heavily, his hand coming up slowly to wave the young merrow away.

"Go," he rasped. "You gotta go,"

"What about you?" Sam exclaimed, swimming forward to grasp James' shoulders. "I can't...I can't just leave you--"

James rose up and grasped Sam's shoulders, blue eyes staring earnestly into dark ones. "If you stay, they'll kill you," He surged forward, enveloping Sam in a tight hug that left the young merrow stunned. "Please go," James said in quiet, pleading voice.

Sam hesitated, briefly returning the hug, before letting go and diving back into the water, only looking back momentarily with sorrowful eyes, before continuing forward, and finally submerging himself bellow the surface.

James let out a sigh of relief, collapsing on his hands and knees as he sent a silent prayer of thanks to whatever higher power was watching over him. He didn't turn around when he heard footsteps behind him; only when the footsteps stopped did he turn around. His father stood above him, anger and disgust plaguing his features. His hand shot forward, gripping James' hair and tugged painfully upward so James could face him.

James let out a muffled yelp, but otherwise refused to give his father the satisfaction of seeing him hurt, the moisture in his eyes carefully held back and his gaze defiant as his father glared at him.

"What the fuck were you thinking?" He hissed, his voice low and cold in a way that sounded much more threatening than if it were raised.

"He wasn't gonna hurt me," James gritted out. "All we did was talk, he was my friend!" He exclaimed.

"Those things aren't your friends, James!" His father snarled. "Ever since I told you about those godforsaken things you've been nothing but infatuated with them. They killed your uncle! My brother!"

"Maybe it was his own fault!" James shouted in anger. 

His father startled back as if he'd been struck and let go of James' hair. James fell to his knees in the sand, his hands coming up to massage carefully at his sore scalp, his defiant gaze still fixed on his father's now stricken one.

"You told me he went out looking for them. To rid them of our existence. He went looking to kill them. And they defended themselves! He got himself kil--" James didn't finish before his father's hand lashed out and struck him across the face, knocking him into the sand. James raised a trembling hand up to his stinging cheek, eyes hidden by dark hair. His father didn't say anything, he muttered something incoherent to his co-workers and trekked back away from the sand.

James glanced at his father's back from the slits of hair and struggled to get back on his feet. He slowly made his way in the direction his father had gone, knowing his mother would worry if he didn't return soon. Shakily, he took the scale Sam had given and caressed it in his palm, his eyes turned to the sea, desperately etching the sound and look of it in his mind, as well as a gaped tooth smile and kind dark eyes, knowing that after today, he would never be allowed to wander in its beauty again or fulfill the promise he had made to young merrow.

**Author's Note:**

> Little side note: I used merrow (and I know merrow are something entirely different than mermaids) as sort of genderneautral term for merpeople rather than actually using "merpeople" 
> 
> Well there ya go folks. This is still a work in progress and I hope you stick around to see it finished. (Once again you can read my SPN fic [here](https://archiveofourown.org/works/7332901/chapters/16656721) :)


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